Social media can be a toxic place. Full stop. That can be doubly true for NBA stars who can hear from trolls who don’t like them, or their team, or — Kevin Durant’s favorite — angry gamblers who didn’t hit their three-way parlay because of what a player did. Portions of the sports media online can feed off that negativity, mining it for engagement.
Which has led LeBron James to announce he is taking a break from social media.
First LeBron shouted out something from Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant’s longtime agent and business partner, calling out sports media who only “cover sports through negative takes.”
Then LeBron took it a step further.
LeBron had clearly gone to this place already in his mind. After the Lakers knocked off the Jazz this week behind 37 from rookie Dalton Knecht, LeBron said he knew Knecht would be a star before the Lakers drafted him, then spent part of his postgame media session going after his haters.
“Everybody on the internet calls me a liar all the time. They say I lie about every f****** thing. So what am I now? I’ve been said it. I watched him, I watched Tennessee a lot. I did not think he was going to fall to us. I thought it would be impossible. I have no idea how that happened but very grateful and very happy that he’s here.”
Did watching the social media takes on LeBron’s son, Bronny James, add to his frustration this season? Possibly. LeBron has gone dark on social media before during the NBA playoffs, just not during the regular season.
A cleanse from social media could be good for all of us occasionally. LeBron may need it for his mental health — get away from the negativity, focus on family and a 10-4 Lakers team that is healthy and exceeding expectations.
We’ll see how long he can actually stay away, though.
